Protective brassiere



Nov. 18, 1969 s. M. LIBRANDE PROTECTIVE BRASSIERE Filed Jan. 23, 1967 FIG, 2

INVENTQR. SAMUEL M. LIBRANDE United States Patent 3,478,739 PROTECTIVE BRASSIERE Samuel M. Librande, Denver, Colo., assignor, by mesne assignments, to Mary Phyllis Simpson Filed Jan. 23, 1967, Ser. No. 611,063 Int. Cl. A61f 13/15; A41c 3/02 US. Cl. 128-432 7 Claims This invention relates to a new and useful protective brassiere and, more specifically, to a semi-rigid shock absorbing bra worn for protection of the female breast area during athletic competition or other activities which have a high incidence of physical contact.

Traumatic injury to the female breasts in numerous incidents has been traced to trauma received during athlete competition such as baseball, basketball and other sports. Such blows have been directly responsible for various forms of mastitis. The ultimate result in many such injuries has been the removal of the breast by surgery.

Although there have been various types of protective bras in the prior art, none have been broadly accepted by reason of their complex structure and prohibitive cost. The bra taught by the present invention is a very simplified structure which is used in conjunction with the ordinary bra. It is constructed of a pair of thin walled semi-rigid plastic cups. The cups will usually deflect a blow to one side, but if the blow is directly in the center of the breast, the cup will deform, absorbing the shock. By reason of the novel construction of the cup, any shock received around the areola area of the breast will be transmitted outward to the non-sensitive area around the periphery of the breast. Since an ordinary bra is worn under the protective cups, only an abbreviated back strap is necessary to maintain the protective bra in place.

It is, therefore, the principal objective of the present invention to provide a novel and improved protective brassiere which reduces the incidence of athletic and industrial breast injury.

Another object of the invention is to provide a breast protecting structure which is used in conjunction with an ordinary brassiere.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a protective breast cup constructed of pliable plastic which will absorb shock and deflect a blow.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a semi-rigid protective breast cup which has sufiicient pliability to comfortably allow for various movements of the human body.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a protective bra with a single standard size which will fit any size female.

Still a further object of the present invention is to provide a protective breast cup which is simply constructed, low cost and durably constructed.

Other objects will be in part apparent and in part pointed out specifically hereafter in connection with the description of the drawings that follows, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the complete protective bra;

FIGURE 2 is a detached front view of an individual breast cup; and

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view taken along line 33 of 3,478,739 Patented Nov. 18, 1969 ice" FIGURE 2 showing the protective bra over the ordinary brassiere of the wearer.

Referring now to the drawings and, more specifically, to FIGURE 1, a protective bra is shown and generally identified by reference numeral 10. In FIGURE 3, the bra 10 is shown in position over the ordinary bra 12 of the wearer. The bra 10 comprises a pair of breast cups 14 shaped to generally conform to the contour of the female breasts and shall hereafter be referred to as cup-shaped. The cups 14 are joined therebetween by a piece of elastic 16 which is threaded back and forth through openings 18a in the edge of the cup 14. The elastic member 16 is merely illustrative of a number of methods which can be used to provide a flexible connection. By reason of the resilient connection, the wearer is unrestricted in various body movements. The bra 10 is held in place on the wearer by a back strap 20 which adjustably attaches to fastener 22 formed integral with the cups 14. Since the user is wearing an ordinary brassiere, there is no necessity for shoulder straps on the protective bra. The uplift function is adequately performed by the shoulder straps 24 of the ordinary bra.

The breast cups 14 are formed of a thin walled structure of relatively pliable plastic. The material is not toxic or abrasive, having a smooth surface. Surrounding the outer periphery of the base portion 15 of the cup is an outwardly turned flange 26. Sand flange provides a bearing surface where the cup contacts the skin of the wearer. The flange 26 has a tapered thickness, as shown in FIG- URE 3, to provide a softer bearing contact. Although the sides of the cup 14 can be easily squeezed together, the conical shape provides a relatively rigid structure to any frontal blow.

As can be seen most clearly in FIGURE 2, the base portion 15 of the cup is provided with a slot 28 extending radially outward from the center thereof terminating short of the flange 26. The presence of the slit 28 allows the cup 15 to partially deform when an impact blow is received in approximately the center of the cup. What essentially happens is that as the center of the cup begins to deform inward, the slot 28 spreads open facilitating the deformation. The function of this deforming action is to absorb as much shock as possible from a direct blow received by the wearer. In the absence of the slot 28, the cup 14 has a more rigid resistance and less shock absorbmg properties.

If a blow is received substantially off the center of the cup 14, the side wall of the cup will deform rather than the center portion as above mentioned. A blow of this type will be deflected to one side or the other. The deformation of the cup assists in the deflection.

Scribed around the periphery of the cup 14 on a portion of the flange 26 is a line 30 as best seen in FIGURE 2. The line is a means of adjusting the size of the cup to fit a female having a cup size substantially smaller than the average female. The cups 14 are trimmed along the scribed line 30 with a scissors or other cutting means. The line 30 terminates short of the integrally molded fastener 22. A second set of openings 18b are provided in the base portion 15 for use when the cup is trimmed for a smaller size. The standard size cups 14 are equally effectual for a woman having large breasts since the area vulnerable to injury only extends approximately 1 /2 to 2 inches around the areola.

It can be readily seen that the protective brassiere 10 of the present invention offers a shock absorbing and deflecting structure heretofore not available in the industry. The flexibility of the bra is very conducive to athletic sports in that it does not hinder any body movement. Each of the cups 14 individually acts in response to movement of that portion of the body with which it is in contact and there is no uncomfortable or unnatural feeling by the wearer. The simplified single strap 20 allows the bra to be quickly removed or placed in position without the normal necessity of undressing.

It is understood that the variations from the form of this invention disclosed herein may be made without departure from the spirit and scope of the invention and that the drawings and specification are to be considered as merely illustrative rather than limiting,

What is claimed is:

1. A protective breast cup for use during athletic competition comprising: a hollow cup-shaped member constructed of a resilient material having wall portions tapered inward to a center base portion, an outwardly extending flange formed around the peripheral edge of said cup-shaped member adapted to act as a bearing surface when the member is fitted on the female breast, a continuous slot defined in said wall portion extending radially from the center base portion and terminating short of the flange portion of said member and means for maintaining said member positioned over the breast of the wearer in form fitting relation during the period of use.

2. A protective breast cup as set forth in claim 1 wherein the cup-shaped member is of a uniform wall thickness with the exception of the outwardly extending flange portion which is tapered progressively thinner toward the outer edge of said flange whereby the reduced thickness provides a softer and more pliable bearing contact with the wearer.

3. A protective breast cup as set forth in claim 1 wherein cup-shaped member includes a scribed line around the outer edge of the cup-shaped member located substantially between the outwardly extending flange and the outer edge of said wall portion, whereby the cup shaped member may be cut along the scribed line so as to provide a smaller size protective breast cup.

4. A protective breast cup as set forth in claim 1 wherein the means for maintaining the member in position includes an adjustable strap type fastener attached to the outer edge of said flange and integrally formed therewith of the same material as the cup-shaped member.

5. A protective brassiere as set forth in claim 1 including: tWo of said cup-shaped members, the means maintaining the cups positioned over the breast of the wearer include, elastic connecting means connecting the two flanges of the respective cup members, whereby the cups are free to move with the body of the wearer without hindrance, fastening means attached to the flange of each of said cups, a back strap each of its respective ends being adjustably connected to each of said fastening means to provide an adjustable strap which passes around the back of the wearer.

6. A protective brassiere as set forth in claim 1 including: two of said cup-shaped members constructed of a non-toxic flexible plastic, the means for maintaining the cups positioned over the breasts of the wearer include elastic connecting means joining the flanges of said cups in close side-by-side relation, a back strap adjustably attached to each of the respective cups on the opposite side thereof from the elastic connecting means, the radial slot in the wall portion of the cup member terminating short of said center base portion.

7. A protective brassiere as set forth in claim 5 including two of said cup-shaped members, a first tab member integrally formed as a portion of said flange having openings therein for attachment with said elastic connecting means, said fastening means comprising a second tab member integrally formed as a portion of said flange oppositely positioned on the flange from the said first tab member, a scribed line set inwardly from the outer edge of said flange surrounding said cup with the exception of said first and second tab members, whereby the flange can be cut away along said scribed line without affecting said tab members.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,579,365 12/1951 Conde 128-463 2,611,898 9/1952 Laird 128463 3,176,686 4/1965 Barnes 128-463 ADELE M. EAGER, Primary Examiner 

